This is the letter I sent.  Feel free to forward if you'd like, just remove
my email/phone info.


I was very disappointed at the poor reporting and misleading information
presented in your September 29 press release entitled, "CPSC Warns Against
Placing Babies in Adult Beds; Study finds 64 deaths each year from
suffocation and strangulation."  The link drawing the reader to the press
release had a sensationalistic header of "Don't Place Babies in Adult Beds."

The annual death rate, according to your press release, is 64 babies
(sleeping in adult beds) for the period 1990 - 1997.  That figure seems to
decline, with an annual rate of 38 deaths for 1998-1999.  Yet the press
release neglected to mention statistics on crib-related deaths, statistics
that are posted on the CPSC's on website.

http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/pubs/usedcrib.pdf warns parents that about 50
deaths each year are caused by babies becoming "trapped between broken crib
parts or in cribs with older, unsafe designs."  In addition, various types
of cribs, such as cribs with decorative knobs or cornerposts, can create a
choking hazard.  In addition, daybeds and bunk beds pose dangers.  Then you
have the dangers of babies confined to cribs chewing on the rails out of
boredom, ingesting wood particles, paint, and plastic.

To compare the similar dangers of bedsharing and crib sleeping, the CPSC
table should have paralleled the figures for crib entrapment and
strangulation, with the bed figures for wedging, entrapment, and
strangulation.  When bringing that comparison into this letter, since the
press release failed to do so, one learns that total entrapment for
bedsharing is 49.25 annually, compared with 50 annually for crib sleeping.

Then the statistics should have separated incidents related to drug or
alcohol use; a thorough and accurate report would have further broken down
the bedsharing statistics to provide the most accurate information.
Certainly no parent should be in care of an infant or child while under the
influence of drugs or alcohol, whether during the day or at night.

Thus the most relevant statistic of all was omitted from the study:  the
number of deaths unrelated to drugs or alcohol, due to what the CPSC terms
"Co-sleeping death (rolling on top of or against baby while sleeping)."
This number, which contains drug-related co-sleeping, totaled 121, or 15 per
year.

While every infant and child death is a tragedy, this figure is too low to
warrant such a sweeping warning to parents.

If the intent of the CPSC was to alert parents and protect babies, all of
these dangers should have been cited.  Apparently the intent was to
sensationalize the low dangers of bedsharing.  According to your own
statistics, the dangers of bedsharing only marginally outweigh the dangers
of cribs.  Since, according to the CPSC's own "usedcrib.pdf" report, these
50 annual crib deaths are preventable by simply repairing or correcting
dangerous cribs, one must draw the same conclusion about dangerous bed
arrangements.  Wedging between mattress and wall or headboard, entrapment
between mattress and adjacent furniture, entrapment in waterbed rails and
bed rails, all are preventable dangers that can be alleviated by simply
removing the furniture, rails, headboard, and by moving the mattress away
from the walls.

I saw no evidence of additional studies or statistics besides the single
study reported in the press release.  As a former investigative reporter, I
was surprised to see a broad recommendation drawn from a single study.  In
no other area would such a broad recommendation be tolerated:  cancer drugs
require numerous studies, auto safety reports must cite numerous studies,
child products must pass numerous safety tests.  It is irresponsible,
inflammatory, and misleading for the CPSC to publish such a generalization
from a single study.  This demonstrates negligence in research and
reporting, something I used to rely on the CPSC for.

Thankfully, some pediatric experts have spoken out against the CPSC
inaccurate press release.  I began to draw upon these quotes for this
letter, but found enough examples of superficial statistics within your own
website upon which to base my response.

I expected better from the CPSC.  I regularly visit your website for product
recalls and other safety information.  I no longer feel that I can trust the
information I read, since this press release was so misleading.  I will not
be patronizing your site in the future.

I expect to receive a reply.  I will begin sending this letter to
newspapers, magazines, and government agencies calling for a review into the
shoddy research and reporting conducted by the CPSC.

Shannon Rizzo
(512) 728-3649
[log in to unmask]

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